Indicating means for cash registers



Get. 20; .1942. NQLDE 2,299,648

' INDICATING MEANS FOR CASH REGISTERS Filed March 11, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I? F IE J 42 INVENTOR fieorge 1/. No/de ATTORNEY G. V. NOLDE INDICATING MEANS FOR CASH REGISTERS Filed March 11, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY George 1 A o/ae g m ATTORNEY E ia 1 oooooo oooooo F0000.

OOOdO Q l ...l.. Y 000000 B bbg Patented Oct. 20, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE INDICATING MEANS FOR CASH REGISTERS Application March 11, 1940, Serial No. 323,405

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to indicating means for cash registers and more particularly to electrically actuated means or" this character adapted for use at toll stations on bridges and highways to indicate at a remote location the amount registered in the register.

It is a general object of the invention to provide an improved electrically actuated indicating means for cash registers which can be readily applied to existing types of such registers.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the character referred to, in which the selector mechanism can be applied directly as an attachment to a cash register with a minimum amount of reoperation of the parts of the cash register.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation through a cash register having the selector mechanism attachment mounted thereon;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of a part of the selector mechanism taken in a plane indicated by the line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic circuit diagram illustrating the electrical connections in one ordinal position of the indicating apparatus; and

Figure 4 is a schematic view illustrating the manner in which numerals can be formed by indicating apparatus comprising a panel of lamps.

As stated above, the indicating apparatus of the instant invention is especially adapted for use with cash registers of the type having means for displaying the amount registered to both the operator and the person paying the charge. A cash register of this type is illustrated in the patent to Frederick L. Fuller No. 1,163,748, dated December 14, 1915. Only such parts of the cash register as cooperate directly with the present invention are illustrated, and reference is made to the above patent for the description of mechanisms not disclosed herein.

The cash register (Figure 1) may include a casing having respective front and rear walls H0 and I l and having an intermediate raised portion l2 in which front and rear sight windows 13 and M are provided. A fragmentary portion of one rdinal bank of the usual amount keys [6 is shown. Each bank of keys may operate through a diiferential amount from the position shown in Figure 1 in accordance with the value of the depressed key in the cooperating bank of amount keys.

The selector slide means of the register is provided with a series of ten fia gs or indicator plates 23 for display through the front sight window 13 and a corresponding series of flags 23a for display through rear sight window 54. The adjustment of the selector slide means 25 of each order serves to align the flag 23 of each series having the numeral thereon corresponding to the value of the depressed key with a conventional form of flag elevating mechanism (not shown), so that after depress-ion of the keys of the cash register to enter an amount to be registered, registration of the amount will raise the aligned flags 23 and 23a to display the amount both to the operator and the customer.

The indicating apparatus of the instant invention comprises an electrically actuated amount displaying means in the form of a series of ordinally arranged lamp panels and an electrical selector mechanism which is operated by the selector mechanism of the cash register. The numeral displaying means as indicated at 3| in Figures 3 and 4. may comprise bank or panel of twenty-four lamps which may be s lectively illuminated to form the different numerals as illustrated in Figure 4. It will 02 understood that there is one panel of lamps 3! for each ordinal bank of keys is in the cash register.

The electrical selector mechanism (Figures 1 and 2) may include a casing 32 mounted upon a framework 33 formed with front wall 34 and a rear wall 35 which overlap at their upper ends. The rear wall 35 is provided with a forward horizontal extension 35 which overlaps the horizontal wall 31 of the cash register casing and may be suitably secured thereto. by fastening studs 38. Withi-n'the frame respective upper and lower series of horizontal guide rods 39 are mounted to support an ordinal series of selector frames 41, one for each selector slide 2! of the cash register.

Each frame 4| (Figures 1 2) is connected for movement as a unit with the align d selector slide 2! by means of forwardly extending link or bar 42 which passes through an opening 43 in the casing and is detachably secured to the aligned selector slide 2i by fastening pin or bolt 44. Thus. each of the select f1 electrical selector mechanism e ted by the aligned selector slide 2! of the cash register to a position representing the value of the corresponding depressed key of the keyboard.

The selector frames 4! are of identical construction, and only one will be described. Each frame 4| carries a plurality of apertured contact bars 48 (Figures 1 and 2) of insulating material on which one or more contacts 41 are mounted. As seen most clearly in Figure 2, each contact bar 46 is provided with ten fastening stations to receive contacts 41, and such contacts are selectively placed therein in accordance with the lamp of the associated lamp bank 3| which is to be lighted in forming different numerals.

Associated with each contact bar 45 is a pair of stationary contact fingers 48 which, as seen in Figure 2, may be secured on a pair of vertical supporting rods 49. The contact fingers 48 are aligned vertically, and as shown in Figure 1 engage the contacts 41 which cooperate in lighting the lamps required to form the figure zero, as illustrated at the right of Figure 4.

It will be understood from the foregoing that each pair of contact fingers 48 of a selector frame 4| is electrically connected to one lamp of the corresponding lamp bank 3| so that this lamp will be lit whenever one of the contacts 41 carried by the bar is moved into engagement with the associated contact fingers 48.

Referring to Figure 3, the contact bars 46 on one selector frame 4! are illustrated schematically with the corresponding contacts shown thereon. For convenience of illustration electrical connections to the associated lamp bank 31 have been shown directly from the contacts 41 in Fig. 3 rather than from one of contact fingers 48 through the contact 41 as the connecting means. For example, the contacts 4'! on contact bar 46a are provided with three contacts 4'! which are I electrically connected by the lead 52a to lamp 0,

of the corresponding lamp panel so that the lamp a will be lit in forming the numerals 3, and 7. Similarly, the contacts on bars 46g and 452 are connected by respective leads 52g; and 522 with lamps Y and z of the lamp bank. As shown in Figure 3, one of the sets of contact fingers 48 is shown as a continuous contact for illustrative purposes which are connected by lead 5| with one side of the source of electrical current. Lamps s to 2 as shown in Figure 3 are electrically connected by the leads 53 and 54 to the other side of such source. Lamps a to h and i to 1' are also respectively connected by leads 5B and 55 to lead 54, but for purposes of clarity the extensions of leads 55 and 56 to the lamp bank are omitted.

Leads 52a to 522 from contact fingers 48 may extend through tubes 5! to cable housing 59, from which a single cable 58 extends to the associated figure displaying means.

Operation Inasmuch as the operation of the apparatus is duplicated in each other, it is believed that an explanation of the operation in setting up one numeraland causing its display will be sufficient. Assuming that the one key iii of a bank is depressed, the associated selector slide Zl is correspondingly moved by the gear sector I! through nine positions from the position shown in Figure 1 to align the one position of the contact bars 46 with the contact fingers 48, as indicated in Figure 3. In this position, an electrical circuit is established through lead 51, contact fingers 48 and one of contacts 41 of contact bar 0, and thence through the lead 52c, lamp 0 and leads 55 and 54 to the other side of the line.

Correspondingly, circuits are established through the contacts 47 of contact bars 9, k, q, u and y, and the corresponding lamps so that a vertical series of lamps is lit as indicated by the shading in lamp bank 3| in Figure 3. Thus, the numeral 1 is displayed when the amount 1 is entered in an ordinal position of the cash register.

correspondingly, if the contact bars 46 are properly positioned by movement of the selector frame 4| and selector slide 2|, the ten numerals required in any ordinal position can be displayed as indicated in Figure 4. It will be understood, of course, that the differential positions of the selector frame can be varied to place the zero position at either end of the series in accordance with the requirements of the particular cash register with which the apparatus is employed.

I claim:

1. Indicating apparatus for displaying at remote locations amounts registered in a cash register, said cash register being of the type having selector slides mounted for differential endwise movement upon registry of amounts in the cash register, said apparatus including a frame, means for mounting said frame on the cash register, an ordinal series of selector elements mounted for sliding movement on said frame in a direction parallel to the endwise movement of said selector slides, and bars projecting from said selector elements for connection to said slides to provide for movement of each selector element and the associated slide as a unit.

2. Indicating apparatus for displaying at remote locations amounts registered in a cash register, said cash register being of the type having selector slides mounted for differential endwise movement upon registry of amounts in the cash register, said apparatus including a frame, means for mounting said frame on the cash register, an ordinal series of selector frames mounted for sliding movement on said frame in a direction parallel to the endwise movement of said selector slides, a series of contact bars in each frame having selectively positioned contacts, a stationary contact finger for each contact bar, and bars projecting from said selector elements for connection to said slides to provide for movement of each selector element and the associated slide as a unit.

3. Indicating apparatus fordisplaying at remote locations the indicia displayed in a cash register upon registering operations, said cash register being of the type having selector slides mounted for endwise movement upon registry of amounts in the cash register to control the in dicia displayed, said apparatus including a frame, means for mounting said frame on the cash register, a series of selector elements mounted for sliding movement on said frame in a direction parallel tothe endwise movement of said selector slides, means providing an operative connection from each of said selector elements to the corresponding one of said slides to provide for movement of each selector element and the associated slide as a unit, contact means on each selector element, and contact means on said frame for cooperation with the contact means of said selector element, one of said contact means comprising a plurality of selectively positioned contacts for selective engagement with the other contact means in accordance with the adjusted position of the associated slide, whereby the closed contacts in an adjusted position of said slide form a representation of the amount displayed by the corresponding slide of the cash register.

GEORGE V. NOLDE. 

